Unbreakable Bond

Chapter 8: Attack!

Just like that, she had lost all control. Not that she had had much control from the start. But the General had trusted her at least. It would have been her first time leading the troops. Real troops! It would've been a dream come true.

Barrak looked at the group. "You have your orders!" And with that, most of the crowd dispersed, male and female non-benders running off to tend to different stations in the camp.

"Boulders!" A voice called out just as three flaming boulders flew over their heads towards the pillars of earthbenders. Three of the earthbenders each took one, breaking them in half. The fourth bender tried to smash the remaining pieces, but he only got four of them, leaving the other two to plummet into the camp. Crashes and screams sounded. Jade pushed the fabricated images of her sisters being crushed out of her mind. She forced herself to turn back to the task at hand.

"Let's go!" Barrak ran to the front wall, the benders following behind.

Jade ran through the benders to get to Barrak. "Wait! The General wouldn't want this."

Barrak rolled his eyes. "He just gave us an order to attack."

"Yeah, a more thought-out, tactical attack, coming in from two sides. Not a full-on charge at firebenders!"

"You got a better idea?"

"We should stay inside and..." a thought hit her. "And we can focus on taking out the catapults."

"Firebenders on the way," The same voice yelled.

Barrak stabbed a finger at the wall in front of him. "You hear that?" He shouted. "They're coming whether we're ready or not. Are we gonna do something about it?"

The benders shouted "YES!"

Come on, Jade. Think! Maybe if I played to his pride.

She grabbed his shoulder, whispering. "I thought you're supposed to be a big hero. Do you really want your name to be remembered by the deaths of all these soldiers? Is it worth the risk?"

There was a moment of hesitation—a small crack through his ego. But he eventually met Jade's gaze and smiled. "What's life without a little risk?" He shrugged. "Battles bring death. That's the natural order of things. They know it." He gestured to his soldiers then continued, increasing in volume. "And if we go down, we're gonna go down fighting. We're gonna bring glory to the Earth Kingdom! And we're gonna be remembered for our acts of bravery and guts!" The rebels all shouted in agreement, raising their fists in the air.

Jade wanted to ring his scrawny neck until his smile popped off. But before she could respond, Barrak slammed his foot down, causing the stone beneath him to shoot up and take him over the wall. "CHARGE!" The force knocked Jade to the ground.

The other benders followed his lead. Only Kass stayed grounded for a second longer. She looked at Jade and mouthed the word sorry, before following them.

Left behind.

The familiar feelings of being abandoned returned. Once again she was left to defend the fort. Defend her sisters.

It's fine. This way I'm closer to my sisters. It's better this way.

Who am I kidding?

Hot anger rose from within her, creeping up to her cheeks. She marched towards a male rebel soldier—Tom?—who was handing out weapons to the others.

"Give me a bow," she said.

The man hesitated only for a second, a wary look on his face. Then he reached into the barrel and pulled out a worn longbow. She took it and looked it over, pulling at the string. She didn't remember everything her old archer instructor had said, but knew she needed to check the bow for cracks and the string for frays.